cryo_guy's review against another edition
4.0
Lotta good stuff in here, but I'll go over my thoughts briefly. I've been trying to get through her Hainish Cycle books and now here we are. It was good to have that "first books" experience with these three novels and gives me some new light to view the books I have read (dispossessed and left hand).
Compiling these 3 together was smart as they all have an anthropological or sociological angle. They share other features too like a journey through unknown peoples, romance subplot, and some details of the bigger picture of things. And, not to sell them short, they dwell on some big themes like legacy and honor, technology, behavior and decision-making in groups of various organization, historical forces on young planets, and in the last book-probably the most vivid-there's serious telepathy, a contest of the wills, lying and truth. It's all pretty cool. Le Guin has a real way of presenting a character to you and how they overcome obstacles that pulls you in. And she has a real imagination for earth-like planets.
If I were to say anything bad, I'd say at times the romances felt a bit cliched, but who cares?
Definitely worth a read for those who like scifi with big ideas, but also put in Le Guin's unique way.
Compiling these 3 together was smart as they all have an anthropological or sociological angle. They share other features too like a journey through unknown peoples, romance subplot, and some details of the bigger picture of things. And, not to sell them short, they dwell on some big themes like legacy and honor, technology, behavior and decision-making in groups of various organization, historical forces on young planets, and in the last book-probably the most vivid-there's serious telepathy, a contest of the wills, lying and truth. It's all pretty cool. Le Guin has a real way of presenting a character to you and how they overcome obstacles that pulls you in. And she has a real imagination for earth-like planets.
If I were to say anything bad, I'd say at times the romances felt a bit cliched, but who cares?
Definitely worth a read for those who like scifi with big ideas, but also put in Le Guin's unique way.
charisbe's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
drewsbookandteareviews's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jiminluvr's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
danielles_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Average rating: 3.75
Rocannon's World: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Unlike most readers it seems, this was my favorite book of this bind-up, and it was all downhill from here. This one sucked me in so quickly, as the prologue with Semly’s necklace was so immediately intriguing and heartbreaking. I really liked learning about the lore of the planet, and seeing the differences between the races and their histories. I think UKLG did a great job of pacing Rocannon’s journey, as there were important events happening throughout. And I even enjoyed the descriptions of the planet. Plus, Rocannon’s story was also sad. I liked seeing him help everyone he met and then determinedly save the planet. The ending was bittersweet though. 🥲I was surprised we didn’t see Rocannon die and missed out on most of his life. But him not reuniting with his own people felt fitting for his character arc.
This had a very mythological feel and I’m very impressed it was Le Guin’s debut!
Planet of Exile: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
I initially rated this 3.5 but I bumped it up a little after reading the last story, which added more depth.It was nice to learn that the Werelians survived and creating a thriving, space-faring society. I don’t think City of Illusions would have been as satisfying without having read this story first.
I really like the idea of a planet of the descendants of colonists trying to ally with the natives in a war. Their enemy was pretty much just an archetypal barbarian depiction, but the narrative did acknowledge they are also trying to survive in this harsh world. The world building was so interesting, as UKLG really put some thought into how 15 year long seasons would affect a society’s culture (one of my favorite aspects of the sci-fi genre!). Both of the two main cultures were depicted in such captivating detail.
What really brought my enjoyment down though was the romance. The female MC came across as 20ish years old to me, with the male MC feeling around 40. Their power differential combined with their characterizations gave me the ick. Plus, the female MC didn’t really do much. And the fact that they so suddenly had the hots for each other and wanted to get married so soon just had me rolling my eyes. I could’ve dealt with it if it was a side plot, but it pretty much ended up being a main driver of the story. Bleh.
City of Illusions: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
God, this one took me forever to get through. The first chapter was really interesting—the question of where Falk came from (I already knew it was Werel based on reviews talking about these stories being connected, but I wanted to know how he got to that point ) got me immediately intrigued. But then it turned out Falk had to go on a suuuuper long journey before he could figure it out. And in typical Le Guin fashion, that journey is described in excruciating detail (it’s really a hit-or-miss for me whether these journeys are enjoyable and this one was a miss). I think it’s primarily because Falk is such a blank slate every-man character that he’s not super interesting, and he spends most of his journey alone getting fucked over again and again. It felt so repetitive after the third antagonist stranger. Plus, I really didn’t like Estrel and how she was so… compliant. Made me uncomfortable. Honestly, if I didn’t go in knowing who Le Guin was, I would’ve thought these books were written by a man, solely based on how passive and sexist the depictions of the female characters are.
But once Falk finally ended his journey (a little over halfway in), the book got interesting again! Falk’s indecision about restoring his memory was interesting to think about, and I like how Le Guin played withthe two competing personalities of Falk and Agad. But I gotta admit that Agad is WAY more interesting of a character, so it was nice to see a competent and confident man take over from Falk’s narration. I also liked the two of them reasoning out whether or not the Shing were lying, and how they took them down together. And seeing how mindspeech was developed and standardized since PoE was really cool too.
Binding up these three novellas was a great choice, as they definitely all built upon each other, lending more emotional impact and intrigue as it went on. But ultimately the icky romance, passive female characters, and uneven pacing made this a mixed bag for me.
Rocannon's World: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Unlike most readers it seems, this was my favorite book of this bind-up, and it was all downhill from here. This one sucked me in so quickly, as the prologue with Semly’s necklace was so immediately intriguing and heartbreaking. I really liked learning about the lore of the planet, and seeing the differences between the races and their histories. I think UKLG did a great job of pacing Rocannon’s journey, as there were important events happening throughout. And I even enjoyed the descriptions of the planet. Plus, Rocannon’s story was also sad. I liked seeing him help everyone he met and then determinedly save the planet. The ending was bittersweet though. 🥲
This had a very mythological feel and I’m very impressed it was Le Guin’s debut!
Planet of Exile: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
I initially rated this 3.5 but I bumped it up a little after reading the last story, which added more depth.
I really like the idea of a planet of the descendants of colonists trying to ally with the natives in a war. Their enemy was pretty much just an archetypal barbarian depiction, but the narrative did acknowledge they are also trying to survive in this harsh world. The world building was so interesting, as UKLG really put some thought into how 15 year long seasons would affect a society’s culture (one of my favorite aspects of the sci-fi genre!). Both of the two main cultures were depicted in such captivating detail.
What really brought my enjoyment down though was the romance. The female MC came across as 20ish years old to me, with the male MC feeling around 40. Their power differential combined with their characterizations gave me the ick. Plus, the female MC didn’t really do much. And the fact that they so suddenly had the hots for each other and wanted to get married so soon just had me rolling my eyes. I could’ve dealt with it if it was a side plot, but it pretty much ended up being a main driver of the story. Bleh.
City of Illusions: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
God, this one took me forever to get through. The first chapter was really interesting—the question of where Falk came from (
But once Falk finally ended his journey (a little over halfway in), the book got interesting again! Falk’s indecision about restoring his memory was interesting to think about, and I like how Le Guin played with
Binding up these three novellas was a great choice, as they definitely all built upon each other, lending more emotional impact and intrigue as it went on. But ultimately the icky romance, passive female characters, and uneven pacing made this a mixed bag for me.
roryd's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
jojothebookbean's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
schnoebs13's review against another edition
5.0
Though not one of these stories was a 5 star for me, I truly appreciate and love this bind up. I had only read the first book in Earthsea before this and was not going into this with high hopes but that quickly changed. I relate to the intro and feeling like my appreciate for Le Guin started to late now that she’s gone but I look forward to reading her backlog. I was so impressed with the writing and creativity of the worlds and experiences her characters went through. I think she’s able to tackle complex experiences but in such a simple way that doesn’t make you feel overwhelmed and not sure what’s going on in the story. I think that this is definitely a great place to start for her and I look forward to see what else I enjoy from her.
katielou25's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5